Cleveland State survives to take second in the Horizon League with 70-69 victory over Youngstown State

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters called it divine intervention at the end of regulation. Then the Vikings' Anton Grady made the definitive statement at the end of overtime to secure a 70-69 victory over stubborn Youngstown State Tuesday night at the Wolstein Center.

With the game tied, 60-60, the Penguins had the last shot in regulation. A clean 8-foot baseline jumper from Kamren Belin skimmed around the hoop and out, but into the waiting hands of 6-10, 235-pound Bobby Hain. He tipped the ball back up, but it hit the front of the rim and bounced out.

"That ball should have gone in,'' Waters said.

YSU head coach Jerry Slocum felt much the same. "We had a couple of good looks at the end of regulation,'' he said. "I thought it was wide open."

The two teams scrapped and banged through five minutes of a one-possession game to the final four seconds, with CSU taking the ball out of bounds holding a 70-69 lead. Much like an earlier 67-66 loss at YSU, when a flurry of late turnovers led to the Vikings' demise, Cleveland State turned the ball over on the inbounds play with 4.0 on the clock.

Again, the Penguins got the ball where they wanted it, into the hands of senior guard Kendrick Perry.

"Me versus the (potential) Player of the Year in my house," the 6-8 Grady said.

Two dribbles toward the lane, Perry rose for the jumper, but Grady stepped out to meet him and blocked the shot to lock down second place in the Horizon League for the Vikings with one game to play.

"Give Anton credit, he read the play,'' Waters said. "That was the best play of the night."

Grady was one of three CSU players saddled with stomach virus, and was ill on the sidelines several times during the game. But he finished with 14 points and eight rebounds to go with his lone block, in a game that had disaster written all over it until the finish.

"You have got to give credit to Grady,'' said Perry, who finished with 17 points. "He played good defense and we weren't able to come up with it."

CSU (20-10, 11-4) entered the game second in the Horizon League standings, needing a victory to secure that No. 2 spot for the upcoming Horizon League Tournament. They got it vs. YSU (15-15, 6-9) with a game to spare as Wright State upset No. 3 Valparaiso, 67-58, on Tuesday, leaving CSU's Saturday road game at Valpo meaningless when it comes to tournament seeding.

"We knew what was at stake,'' Grady said. "We didn't want to shoot ourselves in the foot again."

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.